Darkness Falls (24 page)

Taella let out a scream of frustration and rage and Malorie heard the sound of a face being soundly slapped. Cringing, knowing how much that must have hurt the recipient, she debated on whether or not she should turn around and head back before she was discovered.

Only, she didn’t know where she was. She could have been anywhere, in the side of a mountain, deep within the bowels of the earth, anywhere. The low light was from flames that were floating sporadically throughout the caves and the walls seemed to shimmer in the flames, as if someone sprayed them with glitter. It was beautiful and eerie and thinking about being underground, she felt the walls closing in and it was becoming difficult to breathe.

“It’s a dream,” she whispered, trying to get her panting under control. It would be suicide to be caught…. “It’s just a dream.”

“She’s gone,” the stranger’s voice rasped. “You can come out now.”

Startled, Malorie immediately found herself in a brightly lit room. Furs hung from the walls and covered the floors and the room reeked of luxury and opulence and was absurdly out of place in the dark catacombs. As if by magic, the stench of stagnant water was gone and the air smelled like rich food, metal, and sex.

“You’ve finally come,” a man rasped from behind her. Spinning, she let out a squeak as she saw that he was suspended from the ceiling, his arms pinned above him. Dark hair hung limply to his naked shoulders and covered his face but his eyes were a brilliant shade of green. His limbs were long and elegant but too thin for his size, as if he hadn’t had anything to eat for far too long. Even though he was too thin, he was still beautiful and heartbreakingly familiar.

“Remember me,” he urged, his voice cracking.

It came to her as if it had always been there and she had simply forgotten. Rushing to his side, she began pulling at the knots to free him from his bondage. The rope was slick with his blood but she didn’t think about it in her desperation to untie him. “Varick! My God, my God!”

When he was finally free, he fell into her arms with a serene smile upon his face, “I need you to find me. You must find me.”

Pushing his long, tangled hair away from his bearded face, she wanted to cry. His face was too thin and his cheekbones stood out in prominent relief and she didn’t know how he had survived six years in captivity. It didn’t matter because she knew she would do everything in her power to find him. “Tell me where you are.”

Before he could answer, his eyes widened in panic and he rasped, “She’s coming! You must leave before she finds you.”

Frustrated, desperate, she begged, “Tell me where you are.”

As another scream filled the caverns, Varick rolled his eyes up to look at her, “You must go.”

Malorie could only watch in horror as the vamp-mad Aradian stormed into the room and continued to rant about Feryn and her dead vampires as she had her way with Varick’s ravaged body, as she bent her head and sank her teeth into his neck. Malorie slammed a hand over her mouth to contain the shocked gasp from escaping. Realizing how foolish it was to be scared because it was just a dream, she let out a uneasy chuckle.

“There’s someone in here with us,” Taella said with venom in her voice. Narrowing her eyes, she raised her head and looked around the room. Blood dripped from her fangs and Malorie was furious. Launching herself at the Aradian, she let out a primal scream just as Taella turned her head and their eyes met.

Screaming, Malorie flew at the traitorous bitch and woke up when she landed on the floor with a painful thud.

“Malorie!” Feryn cried out, scrambling out of bed and gathering her up in his arms. He held her head against his chest and the rapid beat of his heart calmed her as she struggled to free herself from the dream. She remembered! She finally remembered! “What happened? Are you all right?”

“It’s Varick,” she said, her eyes meeting Feryn’s in the moonlight. “He’s still alive, Feryn. He’s still alive!”

He stared at her as if she had gone mad. Sorrow twisted his face as he brushed her hair away from her forehead and shook his head, “No, my love, he’s gone.”

“You don’t understand….”

“If he were alive I’d feel it,” Feryn said with heartbreaking certainty.

“He’s alive,” she protested, tears filling her eyes at the desolation that stared back at her from Feryn’s beloved face.

“It was a dream,” he whispered, his words catching in his throat. His eyes glistened as he shook his head, the pain still so close to the surface. “I’ve dreamed he’s alive often enough but I wake up and he’s still gone.”

“Taella has him,” she blurted, desperate to make her mate understand it wasn’t a dream, that his son was alive.

He opened his mouth then promptly shut it and gave her a bewildered look. “That’s not possible.”

“She was able to hide her vamp madness because she drank from Varick,” Malorie continued, remembering how the blood had glistened on Taella’s fangs when she raised her head from Varick’s throat. A shudder worked its way through her body as she tried not to think about what Taella was doing to the poor boy.

“We don’t drink the blood of our own kind,” he said, his voice distant as emotion played out on his face. “It’s toxic.”

“But Varick is different.” The words rushed out of her mouth as she remembered Feryn telling her his son couldn’t create a vampire because he didn’t have enough alien blood whereas the original Aradians blood was too foreign. “He’s the only one of his kind, Feryn, and the rules aren’t the same.”

“Stop! Just stop!” he cried, anguish sharpening his voice. “He’s gone, Malorie, he’s dead. Please let it go.”

“Feryn,” she breathed, moisture spilling down her cheeks as she watched her strong mate desperately try not to break down. His movement was jerky as he collapsed onto the bed and looked at her with such devastation she thought he was dying all over. Kneeling in front of him, she took his hands in hers and held his gaze, “She has him in a cave….”

“Malorie.” No sound came out as he mouthed her name, his lips pulled down in sorrow.

“There were crystalline growths on the walls and it felt ancient and separate from the world,” she continued, trying to remember as much of the dream as she could. “The room she kept him in was lined in furs and gilded artwork hung on the walls and it didn’t look anything like a room in a cavern. Varick was suspended from the ceiling, which was the only part that was bare rock.”

His shoulders straightened as he looked at her, his head tilted to the side and his lips parted, “I know those caves.”

“They could be any caves.” As much as she hated discouraging him, she had to make sure he kept the proper perspective.

“No,” he shook his head, a hesitant smile curving his lips as he met her eyes and she could see the hope glistening in the green depths. “They are the caves the Aradians lived in while the world burned.”

She blinked, not sure what he was talking about. A soft chuckle pushed past his lips as he reached down and cupped her cheek in his palm. “The Aradians burned through the atmosphere when they first arrived and they lived in the caves until the Earth stabilized itself. My father took me and my brother there once and it is as you describe, a vast underground network of opulent caverns and crystalline walls.”

“They’re millions of years old?” she asked, not sure she was able to comprehend the fact that apparently his father was as old as time.

“My father or the caves?” he asked without giving her an answer as he stood up. He began pacing the room as he dragged his fingers through his thick hair, lost in thought. Spinning he faced her with wide eyes, as if he was almost afraid to hope, “There is Aradian metal in the walls, which could explain why I can’t feel him.”

She didn’t understand why that would make any difference but she simply nodded her head, watching him as he muttered to himself and tugged at his hair. Finally, he turned to her, unable to disguise the hope burning in his eyes and she prayed she wasn’t wrong. A smile slowly curved his lips as he said, “I can organize a search party and we can have him back within the fortnight.”

“Will you take me with?” she asked, eager to travel, to see these alien caves.

He stopped and kneeled on the floor next to her. “No.”

Her brows drew together in a frown, “But….”

“It’s too dangerous,” he said, his words firm with absolute resolution. Placing a hand over her stomach, he held her eyes, letting her see the turmoil and love that smoldered there. “I won’t risk you or our child for what may very well be a fool’s errand.”

“He’s alive,” she protested, putting her hands over his, willing him to relent.

“That may or may not be true,” he said, his lips quirking up in a fleeting, involuntary smile. “But he is also with Taella and you are not strong enough to go up against her.”

“I’d be with you.”

He shook his head, “Ideally but if we got separated and if she got to you and I wasn’t there….”

“It’s not like I would leave your side,” she grumbled, making him laugh. Glaring at him, she scowled, “I don’t know what’s so funny.”

“You are always trying to leave my side,” he told her, sliding his arm around her waist and up her back until it was wrapped around the nape of her neck. Pulling her forward, he pressed a hard, fast kiss against her lips before he continued, “If she is as powerful as you claim she is then a moment would be enough time for Taella to get to you.”

He had a point, even though it was hardly a fair point. “I have experience dealing with enemy lairs.”

“Yes, vampires,” he said, sneering the word. “But not Aradians who are injured and furious and dangerous. No, my love, you’ll stay behind where I know you’ll be safe.”

“You’ve had a change of heart in regards to Taella?”

“Maybe,” he answered slowly, still not convinced despite Malorie’s certainty that Taella was still out there, still a threat. “Everything is screwed up, Malorie, and I don’t want to take the chance of losing you.”

“What if I hear from my father?” she asked, planning for a few contingencies because this time she knew she wouldn’t be able to change his mind about taking her with. There was no reason to let an opportunity go to waste. “If he’s on the move, I’ll need to go at a moment’s notice and if I miss him I’ll need a way of travelling back and forth without being an inconvenience. And I might have to bring my son with.”

He looked at her with fond bemusement, shaking his head and she hoped that his thoughts were filled with the possibility of his son being alive rather than what she could do with unlimited access to the Netherspace. She knew she was a bitch for contriving plots while Feryn was distracted but that was the tactician in her, the girl who had to think fast otherwise she risked the lives of her and her men. At least she could take some comfort in the fact that it wasn’t planned, it was just a happy, unforeseen consequence of being left behind.

“I can give you a key that will allow you to travel back and forth a limited number of times,” he said slowly, watching her carefully. “If you use it too much you might get stuck in Netherspace until I am able to come to your aid.”

Nodding her head, she kept her expression neutral as she tried to keep from smiling. “How many trips?”

“At most, four,” he told her. Answering her next question before she could ask, he continued, “You think of the place you wish to go and you’ll get there.”

“I’ll miss you,” she murmured, torn between excitement and dread because she
was
going to miss him. “How long do you think you’ll be gone?”

“Hopefully not long but the caves are extensive and he could be anywhere,” he said softly, unable to hide his excitement, his hope. Cupping her cheek, he brushed his thumb over her lower lip, his eyes darkening with lust, “But I’ll be back in time for the celebration no matter what. If necessary, we will continue searching the caves afterwards.”

She stared at him in confusion, “What celebration?”

Color crept up his neck and into his face and he couldn’t quite meet her eyes, “It was going to be my farewell festival but now it is to celebrate this new path that you have given us.”

Malorie had to blink her eyes a few times to keep from crying, the realization slamming into her once more how close she came to never knowing this amazing man. She tried to say something a few times, only to close her mouth to keep from sobbing. But words weren’t needed as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her body against his, “I never want to think about a world without you in it.”

“You’ll never have to,” he breathed, sliding his hand to the back of her skull as he lowered his head and took her lips in a gentle kiss.

The moment his lips touched hers, she was desperate for him, cold with how close she came to never having him, hot with the fear of losing him when he discovered what she had planned, and warm with love, missing him already even though he hadn’t left.

The dark, strategist corner of her mind wondered how she was going to use his absence to her advantage. Ruthlessly, she pushed the traitorous thoughts down deep and threw herself into the kiss. If he kissed her hard enough, passionately enough, she wouldn’t have to think at all. “Hurry.”

Instead of giving in to her demands, he slowed his kisses, his caresses, savoring her body and driving all of her doubts and thoughts out of her mind. His hands moved over her body, making her shiver with heat and need. Pushing up, she wrapped her legs around his waist and lost herself in his slow seduction.  If only they could kiss forever than she’d never have to think at all.

Drawing away from her, he held her eyes as he lowered her to the bed and followed her down. Her skin tightened as he deliberately rubbed his erection against her thigh, giving her a hint of things to come. As he nudged against the opening of her sex and made her gasp, a slow smile curved his lips and her heart skipped a beat. A thousand images of all of the girls he kissed before played out in the back of her mind and a shudder wracked her body.